Does this eight-seater deserve recognition its flagship form as the best people-mover on the New Zealand market?

Price: $85,990.
Powertrain and economy: 2.2-litre turbocharged diesel engine, 130kW and 430Nm, 8-speed automatic with SportShift, HTRAC all-wheel drive, official combined economy 8.2 L/100km, CO2 218g/km.
Vital statistics: 5253mm long, 1990mm high, 1997mm wide, 3273mm wheelbase, luggage space 831 litres with third row down.
For: Very spacious interior, high level of comfort and safety specification, easy to use, fascinating exterior looks.
Against: Price is high, diesel can clatter, ‘fascinating’ exterior design.

AT exactly 10.11am Jack Reacher approached the vehicle. He liked it immediately. A big turbo-diesel people-mover – large enough to easily accommodate his giant frame.

Unusual appearance, though. Strange nose. It looked like it wanted to be an EV, and yet, it wasn’t.

On opening one of the big sliding doors, Reacher was immediately impressed. Very spacious with a high roofline and huge windows, eight leather seats, plenty of cargo room, loaded to the hilt with luxury and safety specification.

But then Reacher felt the familiar itch at the back of his neck. Something about this luxurious new people-mover worried him. Something was not as it seemed. Then it all came back to him.

This new MPV was also sold as a commercial van.

OK, OK, I admit I’ve just been spending the Christmas-New Year break pigging out on Jack Reacher novels. For the uninitiated he’s the creation of English author Lee Child, who produces a new Reacher adventure just in time for Christmas every year.

Reacher is an ex-military cop who is a big man with a six-pack like a cobbled street, hands the size of dinner plates, and the fighting style of a running chainsaw thrown into a crowd. That’s how Child describes him, not me.

Reacher novels are fun. Quite predictable too – if he hasn’t beaten up five bad guys by the end of the opening chapter you’re disappointed. But I love them. They’re just the thing for relaxing out of the summer heat. I also enjoy the writing style, which is short and sharp. And that explains why, just for holiday fun, I thought I’d use the Reacher novel style to introduce my latest road test vehicle, the new Hyundai Staria Limited.

While the Limited is indeed an eight-seater people mover, it is also true that essentially the same vehicle is also available as a two-seater commercial van, the Staria Load. They both sit on Hyundai-Kia’s N platform that so far has underpinned a number of vehicles including, in Hyundai’s case, the Santa Fe sports utility wagon.

That’s an important connection, because the Staria Limited shares a lot of the refinement and capability that the Santa Fe is renowned for. Mind you, at the Limited level this Staria on test also almost shares the price of its Santa Fe equivalent, it’s just $4000 shy of the SUV’s recommended retail.

Despite that, the Staria Limited may well project as the best people-mover on the New Zealand market. Granted there is plenty of very good – and less expensive – product out there including Kia Carnival, Ford Transit Torneo and a wide selection of Volkswagen people-movers and mini-buses. However, it is the design and the look of the Hyundai that sets it apart.

It’s actually the first Hyundai to be produced that follows a new design theme called ‘Inside-Out’. Hyundai claims that whereas traditional vehicle design projects usually begin with the exterior and then lead to the interior, with Inside-Out both are considered at the same time. Maybe even consider what’s needed inside before the outside.

As a result, the interior design of this latest offering from South Korea is outstanding. Staria has a very high roofline just 10mm short of 2 metres (Santa Fe roof height is 1716mm and Carnival is 1775mm), 5.25m length which translates to plenty of legroom and cargo space, and there are very large windows to help give the vehicle the feel – says Hyundai – of travelling in a high-speed passenger train.

All this is packaged in a bodyshell that offers a highly futuristic look. That’s particularly the case at the front – the nose features a daytime running light setup that runs right across the top of the Hyundai’s grille.

The overall look is a bit interesting, to the extent that during my time with the vehicle it attracted an unusual amount of comment. A few people said it looked awful, while several others asked if was an EV. And me? I got used to it…

Staria’s wheelbase is 3273mm which is more than 50cm longer than Santa Fe, and that has allowed fitment of a pair of very large sliding doors to gain access to the passenger area. And the sheer height of the vehicle has resulted in an equally large rear liftback that requires those around to step carefully to keep out of the way when it is swinging upwards. Fortunately, it can be operated remotely.

My time with the Staria Limited coincided with Christmas, which meant I was able to use the vehicle for everything from airport runs to ferrying family members to various venues during a three-day holiday golf tournament. Even with three rows of seats in use there remained plenty of cargo room, and we only needed to fold down the back of the rear seats to be easily able to load four sets of golf clubs and their trundlers.

Staria Limited impresses as a drive, too. It may look like a van and have a sibling that is indeed a van, but it drives like a full-on passenger vehicle.

Under its stubby bonnet is the same 2.2-litre turbo diesel that powers Santa Fe. For people-mover rather than SUV use it is slightly de-powered so it offers 130kW of power and 430Nm of torque, compared to Santa Fe’s 148kW/440Nm.

The engine is mated to an eight-speed automatic with a SportShift facility that can be operated using paddles on the steering wheel. In the usual Hyundai/Kia fashion it also offers four drive modes – Normal, Eco, Sport and Smart – which in the Staria’s case I never used. I simply found it safer to use the default Normal setting when carrying passengers.

But if I had wanted to punt things along a little, the Staria Limited also has Hyundai’s very good HTRAC (Hyundai Traction) all-wheel drive system. Under normal circumstances the people-mover is front-wheel drive in the interests of lowered fuel consumption. But if HTRAC detects any loss of traction it will instantly divert torque to the rear axle.

Not only that, but whereas the Staria Load van has a leaf spring rear suspension in the interests of cargo-carrying capacity, the Limited’s rear suspension is multi-link for better passenger comfort and superior handling.

But frankly, all this is in the interests of this Hyundai being a capable people-mover rather than something with any strong performance credentials. But a combination of AWD, the passenger-oriented suspension, and 18-inch wheels shod with 55 Series tyres do help make it a sound drive.

At the Limited level the Staria also carries a swag of technology, much of it tailored for people-mover use. Maybe the best example of that is a facility known as Passenger View which not only gives those in front a view of those in the rear, but also features microphones and speakers for easy conversation. Good grief.

There are also USB chargers for those in the rear seats, those seats can be slid back and forth for more room, there’s a wireless charge tray up front, and the infotainment touchscreen is a big 10.25-inch unit with satellite navigation. Something I liked was Safe Exit Assist which prevents one of the side doors from being opened when a vehicle is approaching.

And talking about approaching vehicles, the Staria Limited also has Rear Cross Traffic Collision Avoidance Assist, which vibrates the steering wheel then hits the brakes – hard - if a vehicle approaches while you are reversing.

The vehicle also has Surround View Monitor with a 360-dgree view, a Blind Spot Monitor, Lane Keep Assist, Lane Follow Assist and, once you’ve finished driving, a Rear Occupant Alert that warns if someone has been left in a rear seat.

I’d love to know whether in the early stages of development of this new Staria, the design team employed the ‘Inside-Out’ concept to create the van before the people-mover, or vice-versa.

Prior to driving the Limited, I also spent a week behind the wheel of the Staria Load, which is available in front-wheel drive only, and which offers almost 5000 litres of cargo space in two-seater format (a second row of seats is a $2000 option). I very much enjoyed this van, which retails for $62,990 with automatic.

But the Staria Limited was so much better in all ways. Quite frankly, it rivals all of the SUVs that are so popular in New Zealand right now – Santa Fe included. But would you choose a people-mover over a sports utility? For this Hyundai, that’s literally the big question.